Sakyaprabha Distemper on cloth Tibet

"Sakyaprabha was the last of the eight great Indian masters called by the Tibetans 'the six Ornaments and two Excellents.' This painting doubtless belonged to series of eight thangkas portraying the members of that group: Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dignaga, Dharmakirti, Gunaprabha and Sakyaprabha.

"Although individually well known in all Mahayana countries, the grouping of the eight and their collects ive veneration is a Tibetan tradition. Sakyaprabha, living in the eight century, was a native of western India who seems to have migrated to Magadha and spent his last years in Kashmir. He mastered the Vinaya and wrote important commentaries, two of which are in the Tanjur." (E. Olson, Tantric Buddhist Art, New York, 1974, p. 93)